New York, New York–It’s a Wonderful Town

Jim and I just got back from a whirlwind trip to Chicago and New York City. The trip originated with an invitation to speak at Google’s New York office. That was the “mystery trip,” a mystery because the talk is for Google employees only, and the speaker is not allowed to publicize it to keep it in house. I was gratified to be asked, but honestly had no idea what to expect. I knew it was a lunchtime talk for employees, and was told not to expect many people. But, hey, it’s Google NY after all.

I read online that the office space was amazing, including super healthy cafeterias and food stations everywhere, lots of nooks and crannies for working privately or small meetings, and most importantly for sure, a dog friendly space that even has dog treat stations scattered around the offices. All that turned out to be true. (The “cafeteria,” which I’m now calling The Room of Infinite Food was worth a trip unto itself.) There were actually more people than I expected at the talk, over 100 of them filled the room, and they turned out to be a great audience (including several dogs who reliably barked at only the perfect time). Best news is that they taped it and it will be available to everyone on Youtube sometime soon. I’ll keep you posted. Meanwhile, a sincere thank you to Kristina C. and Alek D. for hosting me. It was super fun.

The photos include a dog treat station, some of the yummy food in the cafeteria, and me AFTER the talk was over and everyone left. Whew, I was happy to give the talk and relieved it went well.

I also got to meet with my walk-on-water agent Jennifer Gates of Aevitas Creative Management and my new editor Peter Borland at Atria/Simon and Schuster about the release of the paperback version of The Education of Will. We’re not sure yet when it will come out, but most likely sometime in February, March or April. I’ll keep you posted. It has a new cover and new subtitle too, can’t wait to share it with you!

The rest of the trip was a big, spendy splurge that Jim and I gave ourselves for our 5th wedding anniversary and our 69th birthdays (we were born on the same day of the same year–makes remembering our birthdays pretty easy). We had an absolutely fantastic time, seeing dear friends and colleagues like Meg Boscov (Pup Up Social Learning), and Sci American blogger and PhD candidate Julie Hecht, going to plays (Waitress in New York, Hamilton in Chicago), seeing the Colbert show live (actually two shows; they tape Thursday’s and Friday’s show on Thursday evening), and eating ridiculous amounts of even more ridiculously expensive food. Which was fantastic. (And why I have to keep this short so that I can get to Pilates…).

Here are a few shots of our trip, including some of the many, many dogs we saw on the streets of the Big Apple, the lovely neighborhoods of Brooklyn Heights, Julie Hecht’s adorable cat Josh, a Beer and Cheese sign that has no business being in New York for heaven’s sake (she says from Wisconsin), backlit books in the lobby of Ballantine, who published The Other End of the Leash and For the Love of a Dog. Also… how about the tail on that terrier-type at a small dog park? Wow.

Now it’s back to business in Wisconsin, where at the moment it’s cloudy and grey. Typical November weather–at least there’s not 19 inches of snow as there was when we came back from Germany a few years ago. Next weekend Maggie and I get to go to another Gordon Watt clinic at Nippersink Hall. Hope you have a good week and weekend lined up for yourself. . .

Comments

So the only time you come to NY where I can actually see you is a closed Google talk?? Damn! So glad you had a great time and look forward to hearing the Google speech online. So what was the topic for Google engineers? Or do I have to wait?

You met Minnie and Bella! Minnie (the boxer/shep mix) is pretty much the queen of Brooklyn and my dog’s very first friend when I adopted him. Bella is pretty great too. So jealous I didn’t get to run into you in my hood!

Sounds wonderful. I bet Google dog peeps were happy to have you. It’s tricky to have dogs in an office situation sometimes. I’m sure you helped with some of the dynamics. Can’t wait to hear it. So did they ask you to talk about a specific subject?

Google is fantastic regarding dogs in the workplace and flexible time for employees. I’ve had many training and behavior clients who worked there in the Mountain View, CA office. One of the cool things I found out is that they found out about ME on their internal only referral list for dog trainers and dog related resources 😉 I look forward to watching the YouTube talk!

OMG, you got to see Hamilton live!! That would have been enough celebration in and of itself for me (grew up on my mom’s LP’s of Broadway musicals). But NY Google sounds interesting – sort of odd in a way since I lived in the Silicon Valley for 20 yrs and they seem to personify that very particular culture so completely. Love the pics of the dogs in the park, and the lady in slippers on the street – you don’t see that in California! – flip flops yes, slippers not so much. Did you get to take a carriage ride too?

Sorry, but this is not on this topic, although I enjoyed the pictures. I need some guidance on the following issue: I live in NE and volunteer at an animal shelter. 5 dogs came in from a local puppy mill. I’ve heard of puppy mills but this is the first time I’ve seen the mistreatment of these dogs first hand. SO AWFUL. The Midwest has a lot of mills. I’m starting to look into how I can help make mills illegal. I contacted my state senators and representative, but so far have just gotten nice replies and know that nothing will be done. I’ve also contacted the AKC and the NE Humane Society without much feedback. Any suggestions?

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About the Author

Patricia B. McConnell, PhD, CAAB is an applied animal behaviorist who has been working with, studying, and writing about dogs for over twenty-five years. She encourages your participation, believing that your voice adds greatly to its value. She enjoys reading every comment, and adds her own responses when she can.

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